Geneaology and History Portal

The General Store

When Robert Spiker was courting Willa Dean Bonnell, he frequently walked to her family's home in nearby Berea. Dean's parents, Ray and Elsie (Maxson) Bonnell, owned the general store next door.

Typical for the times, dusty wooden flooring supported glass-front showcases, long counters, floor-to-ceiling shelves, and numerous bins and barrels displaying a little of everything for sale from foodstuffs to medicines, tobacco, batteries, and even fabric and sewing notions. A self-serve soda pop cooler and a freezer of hand-dipped ice cream were centered in the room. The post office was tucked into the corner at the rear of the store, and the filling station was just across the street. Positioned on the main highway in the center of town, the Ray Bonnell Store provided easily-accessible, one-stop shopping to the community of Berea, West Virginia for many years.

These days much of our shopping -- and our selling -- is done online. In keeping with the "easily-accessible, one-stop shopping" theme, we've decided to showcase a variety of family-related productshere.

Our virtual "inventory" consists of items that family members have personally designed, written, crafted, etc. We complement that with products or services that reference our family and the communities in which they live(d). And finally, we toss in a few genealogy-related elements to balance everything out.

IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES: Our General Store contains hyperlinks to websites operated by independent third parties. Some of the links are "affiliate links." If you click through one of these links and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission from that sale. The price you pay for a product does not increase, but the affiliate commission will help offset the costs of maintaining this website.

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

In some cases, a purchase can only be made directly with the family member (the seller) whose contact information will be provided upon request. We do not receive any compensation for this type of sale.

About the Designer: Kari Duda started a small business in April 2015 making string art wood signs. Her artwork is displayed on Facebook and EtsyLink. She accepts cash, checks and PayPal. Custom orders are welcome. Please contact her at creationsfromblondie@gmail.com with questions or to place an order.

BOOKS

Children's Books (by our cousins)

About the Author -- Award-winning author Melinda Spiker Chambers earned her BS from West Virginia University and her MS from Ohio State University. She is a retired educator who currently volunteers her time as a Sunday School teacher, creative writing teacher, 4-H volunteer, counselor and mentor.

About the Illustrator -- Award-winning illustrator Sue Ann Maxwell Spiker graduated from Glenville State College in the field of art. She is known for her life-like watercolor painting. Sue Ann and her family own and operate the Sunny Pointe Guest House in Jane Lew, WV. She is active with her church and community.

About the Author -- Beginning in rural West Virginia and encompassing an academic career of some 75 years, Paul Miller served as president of two major universities, provost of a third, Director of the Michigan Cooperative Extension Service, and was the first assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Education and Welfare, among others.

GENEALOGY

Photo & Document Scanners

There are many types of photo and document scanners on the market. Each does one or two things really well; none does everything equally well. Therefore, the "best" scanners are the ones that meet YOUR needs. Do you prefer something small and mobile? Do you require an automatic feeder to conquer stacks of loose documents? Do you need the ability to create searchable PDFs or to stitch together multiple images?

SCANNER TYPE

USE FOR

Flatbed scanner

single-page, fragile documents

Portable scanner

scanning projects when on the go

Wand scanner

scanning patterns or designs such as wallpaper, quilts, etc.

Automatic sheet scanner

quickly auto-scanning multiple, loose documents or photos

Overhead book scanner

bound books, large maps, etc.

Converter scanner

converting film negatives and slides

Specialty scanne

receipts, business cards, etc. using OCR technology

DNA Genetic Testing

With more than 5 million people in their database, AncestryDNA combines science with the world's largest online family history resource to predict your genetic ethnicity and provide relative matches to help you find new family connections.

Two other seemingly popular companies, 23andMe andMyHeritage, offer different versions of testing that are not related to Ancestry's database. I have not used them so I am unable to provide any recommendations. I'd encourage you to read the reviews before making a purchase.